Chapter 14: Confessions of a Court Physician
"You're sure that he said Scáthan…" asked Gaius emphatically, his brow deeply furrowed as he questioned Arthur, "That's the word he used? Scáthan?"
"Yes, that's what the man said," Arthur confirmed, "What do you know of them?"
"And you have seen these creatures?" Gaius persisted.
"Yes Gaius!" insisted the Prince categorically, "I can assure you we are not mistaken."
The aging physician sat down heavily on a small wooden stool, his eyes searching frantically through the recesses of his memory for a possible explanation of how the Scáthan could have survived.
Bringing his eyes slowly back into focus, he looked up at the four young faces staring back at him. It had been a long and tiring few days for Gaius, travelling around to all the far-flung villages of Uther's Kingdom to test the water supplies and calm the petrified villagers. He had arrived back at the castle after the new curfew and had almost not been granted passage back through the palace gates; then to make matters worse he had found his workroom left in the most appalling mess and had just been starting to clean up when Arthur had burst into the room, closely followed by Gwen and Merlin supporting a very pale looking Morgana.
And now this…
Merlin helped Morgana over to Gaius' narrow pallet bed and seated her gently before turning to face his mentor, "Everyone claims to have either not heard of these people, or denied that they were once allies of Camelot," he said urgently, "It's a lie, isn't it?"
Gaius nodded his head, slowly running his hand across his face, "What I am about to tell you," he began, "I once swore would never again pass my lips," he paused, choosing his words carefully. "The Scáthan were indeed allies but… more than that, they had always been the Pendragon's eyes and ears, even waging many wars in the name of Camelot. Their bravery and loyalty had no rival and their deeds were recognised on all of Constantine's banners," he said, pointing to the Standard now draped across his workbench. "In Uther's day the coalition went one step further when the Scáthan king was declared Vassal and they pledged all allegiance to Uther's throne."
"So what happened?" asked Gwen, sitting tentatively beside her mistress, "What changed?"
"Uther…" said Morgana simply.
"Right," replied Gaius, one eyebrow raised as he thought back grimly over all the many deaths and the bloodshed of the past two decades, "Magic became too much of a threat to Uther's Kingdom… and so he acted pre-emptively. The Scáthan were just one of many groups that had magic in the land, many of them were my close friends and I had no choice but to stand back and watch them face execution one by one."
"But why deny it?" asked Arthur in despair, "If he stands by his actions why re-write history and claim the alliance was never in place?"
"Because the Scáthan were good people," the older man replied softly, "Because what he did never rested well with own conscience and… he is ashamed." Gaius approached the Prince and put a supportive hand on his troubled shoulder, "It is a very human trait to apply our modern ideals to events of the past and bend the truth to fit our new conceptions of what is right and wrong. If we saw the past for what it truly is, full of mistakes that we cannot put right, then we would be forced to admit that in the end… we have learned nothing from it."
"But now my Father won't even listen to reason!" exclaimed the Prince in disgust, leaning against Gaius' workbench and crossing his arms across his chest in consternation.
"Your Father has stuck by this story for so long it is more than possible that he has come to believe his own lie."
"So we stick with the original plan," said Merlin with determination as he took the small parcel from his belt pouch, unwrapped the oil cloth and laid the hard misshapen nugget on the table. "We smoke them out, clear Morgana and force Uther to face the truth."
"This is your plan?" asked Gaius, his eyes widening as he peered at the homemade smoke bomb.
"First thing in the morning, we assemble the court and flush the girl out in front of everyone;" said Arthur decisively, "If anything goes wrong… Morgana will be safely hidden here out of harms way."
"And what of you?" asked Morgana pointedly.
"I am the Prince of this realm and Uther's only heir, I'll be fine," he replied flippantly.
"I am the Kings Ward… and see what protection that has afforded me!"
"Morgana's right," Gaius agreed, "You must be careful, it doesn't matter who you are, Uther is blinded by his hatred of magic and we all know that his temper holds no bounds," Gaius sighed heavily fixing Arthur with a firm stare, "As for the Scáthan, they were an extremely powerful race… who knows what lengths they may go to in order to exact their revenge on Camelot."
"I understand that there are risks Gaius… but we have no choice," insisted Arthur, holding his ground in resolution.
The physician looked from one face to the next around the room and nodded his head at length, "Very well," he said at last, "but now we must all get some rest or else when the time comes tomorrow, we shall all be dead on our feet." Gaius made his way over to where Morgana still sat on his pallet bed, "Merlin, make your chambers presentable while I check on these dressings."
Merlin's eyes widened in shock as the realisation hit him… a Royal head would be resting on his pillow tonight and at this very moment the remnants of a filthy dung heap was strewn across his floor! Leaping up from his seat and knocking the stool over backwards in the process, Merlin sped up the shallow steps to his little room and began gathering up discarded items of clothing and trying in vain to restore some semblance of order to it's natural state of disarray.
Amid this sudden flurry of activity, Gaius gestured for Gwen to undo the clasps to Morgana's dress while he cleared his throat pointedly at Arthur, gesturing for him to turn his back. The Prince did so with an indignant huff, busying himself with studying the books on Gaius's vast shelves.
Gently easing down the cloth that covered Morgana's back, Gaius inspected her wounds. The skin was no longer red and inflamed and each of the cut marks made by the whip appeared to be healing well. His experienced physician's eye told him that it was too soon for such injuries to be so well mended and all it took was a surreptitious sniff of the ointment smeared across the abrasions to tell him that magic was afoot.
"I trust that Merlin was able to care for you adequately in my absence my Lady?" he asked cautiously.
"More than adequately Gaius," said Morgana warmly, "The balms he put on the cuts almost instantly stopped the pain."
"Did they now…"
"Although… I must say that the first concoction he gave me to try and dull the pain before the whipping had very little effect at all."
"Concoction… what concoction are you talking about?" he asked bemusedly as he began to put her dressings back into place and re-fasten her gown, satisfied at Merlin's efforts.
"He told me it was a remedy that you had mixed yourself!" exclaimed Morgana, equally puzzled.
"Of course… of course!" he said hurriedly, cursing Merlin silently, "My apologies that it didn't work as it should have, I'll be sure to increase the potency in future." Placing the unnecessary additional bandages back on his workbench, Gaius moved swiftly across the room and rapped loudly on his young apprentice's door. "Merlin, what are you doing in there?" he demanded impatiently.
Flinging the door open, Merlin barrelled out of the room, trying ineffectually to hide a large bundle of evil smelling items of clothing behind his back and shoving them hastily into a large sack, kicking it behind a nearby chest. "There! All ready," he declared with a flourish, beaming around at everyone as if nothing had happened.
"Morgana and Gwen can sleep in your chambers, heaven help them," said Gaius, shaking his head at Merlin in despair.
"Good," said Arthur, stifling a yawn as he took Morgana's place on Gaius's pallet and pulled off his boots, stretching his back in contentment.
"Arthur!" cried Gwen sharply before looking to her feet in shame at her tone, addressing him again in a near whisper, "Sire you can't take Gaius's bed, it would be…" she trailed off unsure how to finish.
"It's quite alright Guinevere," interjected Gaius, bristling slightly at the unspoken inference that he was too aged to give up his bed for the Prince, "It would be my honour."
"There you are, you see?" said Arthur smiling serenely.
"Arthur!" Morgana reprimanded, frowning furiously at her adoptive brother.
The Prince opened his mouth to argue back but thought better of it, staring longingly one last time at the relative comfort of the pallet bed before standing up a true martyr and stomping over to the makeshift bed of old sacking that Merlin was arranging on the hearth.
Taking a small candle with them, the two women bade them goodnight and ascended the steps to Merlin's chambers, shutting the door quietly behind them.
As Arthur tossed and turned in a futile attempt at finding a comfortable position, Gaius called Merlin to his bedside. "Morgana's back is healing well," the older man said quietly, "A little too well in fact."
Merlin's broad grin fell rapidly as he realised Gaius knew, "Oh?" he asked innocently, trying to feign surprise.
"You used magic didn't you!" accused the physician, merely mouthing the 'M' word for fear Arthur overhear them.
The young warlock dropped his head and scratched his neck sheepishly in silent admission. Gaius rolled his eyes in frustration, "If anyone had seen you…" he hissed ominously.
"I know… I know," Merlin agreed raising his hands in mock-defence, "But I couldn't stand to see her in pain."
Gaius sighed in despair, the generosity of his apprentice's heart deflating his anger slightly, "Just tell me one thing," he asked, "What was in the mixture that you fed Morgana earlier today?"
"That?" asked Merlin in relief, "There was nothing special in that, it was your own remedy you keep for Sir Geoffrey to help dull his pain."
"Sir Geoffrey?" repeated Gaius in bewilderment, "I have no pain medication for Sir Geoffrey, all I have is…" Gaius's words trailed off and his jaw hung open in disbelief as he saw the conspicuously empty space on the shelf where a small vial of brown liquid had once sat. "You imbecile Merlin! You instructed the first Lady of this Kingdom to ingest Sir Geoffrey's pile medication!"
Merlin's stomach fell to his knees and he turned a rather pallid shade of green, "Will it… I mean will she be…" he stuttered.
"She'll be fine!" he assured him in bemused wonder as he settle down beneath his blankets, "There's nothing toxic in it… although I should think it would taste foul, the key ingredient is pond algae!"
Merlin clamped his hand over his mouth as he heaved at the thought and determined that that was one thing the Lady Morgana would never find out about.
Snuffing out the last candle he lay down beside Arthur, burrowing his way under the small pile of sacking and blankets he had put down for them both.
"Are you awake?" he asked his master in a hushed whisper.
"No," came the blunt reply.
Merlin grinned to himself in the darkness, "Do you think tomorrow's plan will work?"
"Not if you don't let me get some sleep, now shut up Merlin!" hissed the Prince in ill-humour.
Merlin rolled onto his back and closed his eyes but sleep would not come. Too much rested on the events of tomorrow, on the plan that he had set in motion. Too many things racing through his head to allow his eyes to close and the blessed release of sleep to take him…
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